UKBouldering.com

Thinking of a new compact - Canon S110? Upgrading from Sony DSC-HX5. (Read 2793 times)

Fiend

Offline
  • *
  • _
  • forum hero
  • Abominable sex magick practitioner and climbing heathen
  • Posts: 13413
  • Karma: +676/-67
  • Whut
See title.

Have got a DSC-HX5 and have been generally happy with it. Have particularly liked the burst mode (including pseudo-HDR, hand-held twilight mode etc), automatic panorama mode, and the video mode. It also seems to be reasonably durable given I dropped it (in a slightly padded pouch) 20m in Pfalz whilst trying to photograph a fat doormouse in a hole from abseil, after which it was no longer entirely camera-shaped but still worked fine.

BUT I am a bit disappointed with the image quality. I get a fair bit of noise even on low ISOs, the 10x zoom is useful but has even more noise, and it just doesn't seem that clear. My mate had his S90 on the trip and a very brief comparison, the photos just seemed better quality.

I know HX5 to S90/110 isn't a direct comparison, I forget what the direct Canon alternative was to the HX5, I think I rejected it because of the flash housing and crappy screen (though I did like the ergonomics of the shutter speed wheel). I know the S110 is more of a "serious" compact rather than a super-zoom compact, and whilst I like having 10x zoom, I am "seriously" considering that the increase in image quality is worth sacrificing the zoom for.

Thoughts?*

(* apart from "don't get so excited over the fucking fat doormouse that you forget to clip the camera to your harness before juggling it and the rope", I worked that one out)

Johnny Brown

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 11437
  • Karma: +690/-22
S110 is supposed to be good - possibly the best at that size. Don't ignore the slightly older S100 or S90 which might save you £££ with only minor spec changes.

I know nothing about the HX5. Big zooms on small cameras are a compromise, as you've found. General advice is that its getting harder and harder to buy a bad camera, especially if you spend S110 money on compact.

slackline

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 18863
  • Karma: +633/-26
    • Sheffield Boulder

(* apart from "don't get so excited over the fucking fat doormouse that you forget to clip the camera to your harness before juggling it and the rope", I worked that one out)

Does this imply you dropped your camera?

On multi-pitch this summer I've been using the Canon S95 and plenty happy with (dave likes his partners and Paul B uses one too).  Small, compact, easy to use (worked in Peru last year with mittens).  Picture quality pretty good.


To avoid dropping it I use a cord round shoulder/chest (a la slings) with the wrist loop threaded through.  Get the length right and it'll slot into a camera bag on your harness, any fumbling and it won't disappear to the base of the crag.  Simple, cheap and effective.

tomtom

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 20282
  • Karma: +641/-11
This baby is for you Fiend :)


slackline

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 18863
  • Karma: +633/-26
    • Sheffield Boulder

kelvin

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 1293
  • Karma: +60/-1
I got a decent deal on an S95 - cracking camera to be honest. The S100 was out at the time but I don't use video, so had no need for 1080p and gps wasn't something I cared about. It's been dropped a few times but it's a tough little beast. From time to time, when I get the settings right, it excels with it's picture quality for a camera so small.

dave

  • Guest
Can't really go wrong with an S95. Only weakness optically I've noticed is at the long end it needs stopping down to be sharp,but thats's to be expected. Pretty good for a camera the size of a fag packet.


Paul B

Online
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 9626
  • Karma: +264/-4
What Dave said.

The (newest?) firmware does my head in at times as it likes to tell me I've just put it in Av mode with a big Av sign and prohibiting me from changing anything else until it zooms the sign off to the side. It also defaults to -1/3 EV regardless of what I leave it on.

I wouldn't go for the S110 over the 95 as I gather the built in GPS will add weight? Overall, for what I use it for (carrying on routes or taking shots from the belay) a decent smartphone would probably keep me as happy.

Fiend

Offline
  • *
  • _
  • forum hero
  • Abominable sex magick practitioner and climbing heathen
  • Posts: 13413
  • Karma: +676/-67
  • Whut
Thanks guys, will bear that in mind. I do use video quite a lot so any improvements in video quality would sell a newer version to me.

Slackers...
It also seems to be reasonably durable given I dropped it (in a slightly padded pouch) 20m in Pfalz whilst trying to photograph a fat doormouse in a hole from abseil, after which it was no longer entirely camera-shaped but still worked fine.
....I won't make a habit of it tho!

 

SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2024, SimplePortal